Hydrostatic Extrusion is another type of aluminium impact extrusion.

In this type of
extrusion, the billet is extruded through the extrusion die with the use of hydrostatic
pressure. The main difference between other impact extrusion processes and hydrostatic
extrusion is that instead of ram, this type uses pressure created by a fluid. The billet in
this process is completely surrounded by a fluid, inside a chamber and this fluid is then
pressurized to push the billet. In such an extrusion process there is clearly no friction
created between the extruded billet and the container surface.

Hydrostatic Extrusion
The two basic ways of pressurizing the liquid in the chamber are constant rate extrusion
and constant pressure extrusion. Constant rate extrusion uses a ram to apply pressure to
the fluid, whereas the constant pressure extrusion uses a pump, along with an instrument
known as pressure intensifier to pressurize the fluid. It is then pumped into the container
to extrude the billet through the die.

Advantages & Disadvantages

This is broadly a look at the hydrostatic aluminium extrusion process. Next we discuss
the advantages and disadvantages of hydrostatic extrusion and why and in what
conditions should a manufacturer settle for hydrostatic extrusion and not other types of
extrusion.
One of the major advantages of the hydrostatic extrusion is minimal friction
created between the billet and the container space. It reduces the chances of deformation
to a large extent and also increases the life of the die due to mitigated wear and tear of the
die. It also helps to speed up the extrusion process. There is an even and uniform flow of
the pressure during the process. The lubrication during the process is very effective due
to the uniformly pressurized fluid. It lends accuracy and a good, smooth surface finish to
the dimensions of the extruded profiles. The process is capable of extrusion large billet
and complex cross sectional profiles. No billet residue is left over on the chamber walls
in the process, which makes the cleaning easy and reduces the chances of unwanted
deposits on the profiles.
The disadvantages of the process are: one. Difficulty levels associated with containing
the fluid under high pressure. And two, in case of any surface defects, the entire billet
needs to be machined.

Applications
Hydrostatic extrusion is used across industries to manufacture a number of extruded
profiles and products. Aluminium and magnesium are the two most used metals in
hydrostatic extrusion. The main reason for using magnesium is that some important
industry applications specify its use in the extruded products. The main industries using
such products are aviation and the automotive industry, and the products in specific are
aircraft interiors, tram inside fittings, bicycle front fork interior parts and body and hang
on parts.